It's BOOM BOOM Time

~Photo Credits Goes to ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images~

I didn't have a ticket to Las Vegas neither a passport to present the airport guards for me to watch the World Awaits with "Boom Boom" battling "Rocky" in a square off that will determine who will be paired against the current division champion, Daniel Ponce DeLeon for a promising title bout.

Last Sunday, I can only scream at the top of my lungs witnessing Rey Bautista struggled a couple of times against Sergio Medina in a fight highly valuable for both boxers.

Battle of Zero Losses

It was a match of the undefeated. Rey, a native Boholano from Tagbilaran, sported an umblemished record of 22 wins, 0 losses, 17 KOs while Sergio "Rocky" Medina from Argentina was tucked in his wallet with 28 wins, 0 defeats and 16 KOs.

Channel 2 was the one who bought all the rights in showing the bout, featuring the main event between Mayweather Jr and Dela Hoya. As expected, it was packed with galores of advertisements twice or even thrice longer the duration than each round. Good thing I have with me a Sudoku puzzle to while away the commercials.

2-3-1

For majority of the Filipino fans who were glued on the tv sets, they may have observed a glitch on their tv screen. Round 2 was shown first before round 1, followed by round 3. I know I was dizzy the night before because of a couple of drinks with my kababata's, but I wasn't drunk the morning after. Maybe showing round 2 connotes to being channel 2 or number 2, that I can only guess. Somehow, that made the fight quite confusing on who's above and leading at the beginning of the match.

Since I highly regard Boom Boom to follow the footsteps of Pacquiao, and even better than him, I was quite rattled at the course of the fight. Medina is not a boxer you would take for granted. He did give Bautista, the fans and me, a chill on the nerves and spine.

Hardly a knock-out

I was expecting a knockout early in the rounds because Boom Boom is a power puncher. But it only came on the sixth round after a series of flurry exchanges. Bautista managed to corner Medina a couple of instances but the referee may have force Bautista lose his concentration. He persistenly warned Boom Boom to "go up" with his punches in the early rounds, even stopping Bautista in his tracks and finger point him like a kid who stole a candy in a candy store.

Round 5 came the deduction but instead of losing focus, a left uppercut in the 6th round made Medina scuffling backwards and knockdown was ruled. Although the replays showed a slightly different story, the punch seemed to have not clearly landed solidly on Medina's mestizo face.

I thought the referee was to stop the fight

Rocky fought back and rocked Boom Boom to his senses. An avalanche of punches came through him, and into the corner. The punches were drawn and received with a wide open face of Bautista. His right hand was on the ropes. Punches came like bullets of M-16, and his head gobbled back and forth. It appeared as though Boom Boom was helpless and the referee stopping the fight soon. However, referee instead came to the rescue and pulled a busy Rocky from annihilating Boom Boom in the corner and started the mandatory 8 count. It ruled there was a KO because he was clinging into the ropes. He struggled to keep standing in the rest of the round as Medina failed to close the round with another KO.

Date with Destiny

With the match looming to an end, Boom Boom finally end all worries by letting a solid right hook that shook Rocky down on his butt. The match was declared a UD with all three judges’ scores in favor of the Boholano.

Rey improved his record to 23-0-0 (17 KOs) and awarded a crack at the title belt against DeLeon who recently defeated Gerry Peñalosa. That’s a match worth waiting and I suggest he seriously train hard and further develop his power punch even more.

RP Team Replaces Hatfield with Villanueva

PDI reports the rewarding of Enrico Villanueva as the replacement for Rudy Hatfield in the roster of Team Pilipinas. PhilStar/Abs-CbnNews does the same thing.
Rudy is getting married and plans were already cooked up even before the national team was formed. Team Pilipinas is all set to compete on May 12-20 for the FIBA Asian Champions Cup which will be held in Tehran, Iran. The entry to the tournament was made possible after amateur team RP-Harbour Centre won the SEABA Champions Cup held in Jakarta, Indonesia.
So what's there to watch out for before the big tournament?
Set your celphone alarms and cancel your appointments on Tuesday evening, because a collection of PBA Fiesta Conference imports namely:

• Rod Neely of Ginebra,
• James Penny of Red Bull,
• Galen Young of San Miguel,
• Wayland White and Alex Compton of Welcoat,
• Marquin Chandler of Purefoods,
• Shawn Daniels of Air21,
• Rosell Ellis of Alaska,
• Jeff Varen of Coca-Cola,
• J.J. Salinger of Talk ‘N Text, and,
• Jamaal Williams of Sta. Lucia Realty

will test the core of Team Pilipinas. That's an exciting game to witness the national squad perform what they've been sweating out in their not-so-easy practices in and out of the country.

Time-Out

I took a break from writing for this blog to focus on re-organizing my other blog. It took me at least a couple of weeks to finally refocus on my writing routine and check out several sports update.

Palarong Pambansa Kicks-off at Koronadal City

PSC Chairman William Ramirez headed the opening yesterday of 2007 Palarong Pambansa in South Cotabato Complex, Koronadal City, South Cotabato. The Palaro is believed to be a good source of new talents and upcoming sports heroes. This is where the likes of Lydia de Vega(track and field), Erik Buhain (swimming), and Elma Muroz (long jump) were discovered.

Manny Pacquiao crushes Jorge Solis

This is quite old news already, but the pound-for-pound fighter from General Santos City has made an unknown fighter famous for being one of the many Mexicans whom he defeated. Solis kissed the canvass twice in the 8th round before referee called it quits. Now, Pacquiao is getting ready to fight another battle, but this time, in the halls of Philippine Election. He is running for a congressional seat in Gen San against the incumbent representative Darlene Antonio-Custodio.

Team Philippines Captures SEABA Qualifying Tournament

Amateur Team Harbour Centre-RP demolished team SM-Indonesia for the SEABA Club Championship crown. This highlighted the re-entry of the nation into the international scene after the suspension of the Philippines in FIBA sanctioned tournaments.

Call It Karma

The year 2007 appears to be not the year for the Pacman.

With the Barrera-Marquez conclusion last Saturday and Marquez unanimously winning it over Barrera, it seems that the fight was far from over and talks about Barrera finally hanging his gloves for retirement was deemed false. Well, not this year to say the least.

Manny Pacquiao was eagerly awaiting the winner between the two, hoping that he will sign another big contract fight later this year. He is billed to exchange punches with highly acclaim but unknown fighter Jorge Solis on April 14 in the Alamodome, San Antonio.

As he literally expressed that he want to fight whoever emerges as the winner, he may have to wait until September 15 or even longer. A Barrera-Marquez rematch has already been declared putting the WBC International Superfeatherweight champion on queue.

Some analysts even figured the Barrera-Marquez rematch to be the Fight of the Year. Pacman is obviously out of the picture.

It can be recalled last year, Manny was tiptoeing with Golden Boy Promotions in its attempt to lure the boxer to sign with them. GBP claimed that Pacquiao have agreed for a seven-fight contract but this was made prior the Morales-Pacquiao rematch. It turned out Pacquiao can not sign with any other promoter not until November fight was over. Later on, Pacquiao has renewed his contract with Top Rank with a four-year deal. Both camps are now on a legal dispute as to who has the legal right to promote Pacquiao.

Pacman may be the best pound-for-pound boxer, but with the rematch and Pacquiao fighting a nondescript boxer—that could definitely spur a monumental loss if ever Pacquiao gets KOd—the superfeatherweight division clearly belongs to the Mexican.

Karma? You tell me.

If he wins over Solis, there seems to be no other fighter to pair against Manny that could mount an equivalent popularity with that of Pacquiao-Morales trilogy. I doubt that even knockout sensation Edwin Valero could pull this one out.

With that, well, Manny can at least focus on fighting another battle, the GenSan congressional elections.

Import Chandler Saves the Day

Last night’s PBA main event witnessed a great game between two winless teams in the 2007 Fiesta Conference Cup. Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs and San Miguel Beermen both have suffered the worst team start with 0-3 win-loss card.

Prior the game, both teams have made major adjustments to their rosters hoping to stop the drain from losing. Purefoods re-tapped the services of Marquin Chandler whom he helped win big games last year, while San Miguel changed the coaching profile with Siot Tanquingcen leading the Beermen.

However, it appears Purefoods have been favored the wish from the blue fairy. With Chandler reinforcing the team, he amassed an impressive output of 33 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assist with a crucial defensive stop, completely denying the last shot of SMB import Paul McMillan that could have possibly put the game in overtime.

The TJ Hotdogs trailed in the entire ballgame but was able to bounce back. 1:36 in the game clock, Chandler drop-pass the ball to Richard Yee who was all alone in the shaded lane. Yee’s lay-up put the Purefoods ahead with 76-75.

McMillan retaliated with an awkward shot in the middle that came from a looseball, 76-77, the time was 44 seconds remaining.

In an effort to be heroic and lift the team further, Chandler forces a shot that went off the backboard and into the hands of a lone Rey Evangelista for a quick put back regaining the 1-point lead.

Chris Calaguio passed the ball and got interfered in the process, putting the Beermen trapped in the losing end.

Shooting from the free throw line, Chandler only made one of the two, cementing the final score 79-77.

The Beermen still have the chance to tie the ballgame but its import, McMillan failed to make the first free throw that came from a Chandler foul. The second shot was intentionally missed gambling for a rebound and a quick put back.

The plan, however, was foiled by Chandler when he blocked Dorian Peña underneath the basket with only 2 seconds before the buzzer.

Purefoods went home with their first victory while San Miguel added another loss to a string of consecutive defeats.

Gerry's Curtains are Closing

Gerry Launches a left straight into Ponce's head.Photo from Fightnews.com

Before the big fight, Gerry Peñalosa carried with him a genuine promise to the entire Filipino that he will bring pride and glory but not shame. He did not falter. He may have lost the bout according to judges' score sheets but boxing analysts and ringside observers didn't see the way the judges told their outcomes.

Recah Trinidad instead praised the former world junior bantamweight champion in his last Saturday's skirmish against the current title holder Daniel Ponce Deleon for the WBO Superbantamweight.

Peñalosa surpassed himself and came close enough to scoring an upset.

He blasted on the impression that the score cards (119-109, 120-108, and 119-109 by judges Chuck Giampa, Dave Moretti, and Nelson Vazquez respectively) tried to relay, that the fight was won by Daniel with a large margin and that Gerry managed to win only one round in the entire fight.

Ricardo Lois of Boxingconfidential also have a similar afterthought and even branded the fight, alongside with the Forbes-Hopkins results, as robbery matches. He saw the Gerry-Daniel action a draw and noted the varying opinions of ringsiders in which Deleon won by a round or two, and Gerry by a few points.

It would have been a great way if Gerry Peñalosa had won and would now call it quits. His illustrious boxing career now stands with a 51-6-2 record. He floored 35 opponents and I think that massive number isn't an easy task.

Nonetheless, I agree with Mr. Recah installing Gerry to the high post as one of the greatest warrior in Filipino Boxing.

Jorge Solis vs Manny Pacquiao set on April 14

To those who are die hard Manny Pacquiao fans, I bet they already know about Jorge Solis.

For those who don't, well, he isn't the politician he will battle this coming May elections in his hometown General Santos City. It is, however, confirmed Pacman will be running for a seat in Congress as far as the news reports are concern.

Jorge Solis is a nondescript Mexican fighter next in the line for Manny Pacquiao. Rooting from the town of Guadalajara, he is a tough nut to crack having an highly impressive record of 32 wins (23 made his opponents kiss the canvass), 0 loss and 2 draws. He is currently ranked 2 in WBC Superfeather Weight division and could spur a monumental loss and major upset to Pacman.

Dubbed as the Blaze of Glory, the opening bells will sound on April 14 at the home of the San Antonio Spurs, the Alamodome in Texas.

I was hoping for a Pacquiao-Valero tango because the war of words between a 'tricycle driver beater' and the supposed 'cab driver' has made an itch for boxing fans. But I guess the decision to enter the dirty political spectrum has mired the people's champ's focus on the boxing sport.

The result will definitely impact on his venture to politics and possibly the turn out of elections in May for his congressional stint.